The majority voted against a motion introduced by Greens Senator Janet Rice (Vic), which means it was rejected.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Turnbull Government is yet to commit funding to any major public transport projects in our urban centres,

(ii) the recent audit of East West Link federal funding showed significant flaws in the Liberal Government's approvals and funding decisions for that proposed project, and that there are strikingly similar features of the funding decisions for WestConnex and Perth Freight Link toll roads,

(iii) communities in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne are standing up and saying they do not want more polluting toll roads pushed through their urban neighbourhoods, and

(iv) investment in well designed public transport infrastructure is a more effective, economic, equitable and less polluting means of tackling congestion than new toll road projects; and

(b) calls on the Government to withdraw funding for WestConnex and the Perth Freight Link, and prioritise funding for public transport in our major urban centres before polluting toll roads that further embed car dependence in our cities.

The Senate voted 32 to 30 against a motion by Janet Rice, Australian Greens Senator for Victoria. The motion primarily sought to call on the government to reallocate funding set aside for the East West Link to the Melbourne Metro Rail project.

The motion in its entirety was as follows:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) Australia suffered a severe underfunding of public transport under the Abbott Government,

(ii) the former Prime Minister, Mr Abbott, labelled the 2014 Victorian election as a 'referendum on the East West Link', and that there was a change of government in Victoria because of that election, and

(iii) the Turnbull Government has this week [11 October to 17 October 2015] labelled the East West Link toll road as 'indispensable and inevitable', and included it in a publicly-released list of their priority infrastructure projects for Victoria; and

(b) calls on the Government to withdraw the allocation of federal funding set aside for East West Link and to reallocate this funding to the Melbourne Metro Rail project.

The majority disagreed that "the Federal and NSW Governments [should] abandon their plans to construct the WestConnex motorway and commit to building public transport in Sydney to minimise congestion, improve environmental sustainability and boost productivity" (see the motion).

(ii) the WestConnex motorway, if built, will negatively impact residents and commuters across Sydney by increasing traffic congestion and air pollution; and the main beneficiaries of the project will be private businesses who will profit from new tolls while the public wears the financial risk, and

(iii) the Federal Government has not spent a single dollar on public transport projects in Sydney; and

(b) calls on the Federal and NSW Governments to abandon their plans to construct the WestConnex motorway and commit to building public transport in Sydney to minimise congestion, improve environmental sustainability and boost productivity.

(iii) that this reflects priorities set out in the 2013 National Infrastructure Plan, which promotes public investment in public transport, and

(iv) that this raises concern that the $3 billion in federal funding committed toward the proposed East West Link project does not uphold the principles set out in these reports; and

(b) calls on the Government to redirect the $3 billion of Commonwealth funds allocated for the proposed East West Link to public transport in Victoria.

No

Yes (strong)

Not passed by a modest majority

How
"voted very strongly against"
is worked out

The MP's votes count towards a weighted average where the most important votes get
50 points,
less important votes get
10 points,
and less important votes for which the MP was absent get
2 points.
In important votes the MP gets awarded the full
50 points
for voting the same as the policy,
0 points
for voting against the policy, and
25 points
for not voting. In less important votes, the MP gets
10 points
for voting with the policy,
0 points
for voting against, and
1
(out of 2)
if absent.

Then, the number gets converted to a simple english language phrase based on the range of values it's within.

No of votes

Points

Out of

Most important votes (50 points)

MP voted with policy

0

0

0

MP voted against policy

5

0

250

MP absent

0

0

0

Less important votes (10 points)

MP voted with policy

0

0

0

MP voted against policy

3

0

30

Less important absentees (2 points)

MP absent*

0

0

0

Total:

0

280

*Pressure of other work means MPs or
Senators are not always available to vote – it does not always
indicate they have abstained. Therefore, being absent on a less
important vote makes a disproportionatly small
difference.